Five youngsters say they are “devastated” after they missed out on a class trip to Disneyland - as their names weren’t pulled out of a hat.

While their excited classmates are in France this week on a class trip - which includes a day at Disneyland Paris - five other pupils from Whale Hill Primary School in Eston have been left behind as there wasn’t enough room.

The parents of the boys had paid their deposits for the trip but the money was returned to them along with a letter saying the children couldn't take part in the trip as their names weren’t drawn out of the hat.

Mum Jane Nicol, 33, told how he watched as his classmates set off on the trip of a lifetime at 10.30pm on Sunday.

She said: “Ethan was really gutted, he wanted to watch all his friends getting on the coach. I told him not to because it would only upset him, but he wanted to watch.

“A couple of minutes later he came in, laid on the bed, and said, ‘I’m never going to get the chance to do this again am I?’”

Whale Hill Primary School, Esto, Middlesbrough, Teesside

Jayne Grange, 40, said her son, Adam Jobson, had been constantly reminded of his bad luck in the weeks leading up to the trip.

She said: “Another thing that upset him was that the teachers and the kids were all talking about it in lessons.

“It felt like they were rubbing it in their faces.”

Another disappointed parent, Julie Smith, 49, said: “They are devastated. It is very hard for them this week when they are having to go to school as normal while their classmates are in France.

“My heart is breaking for them.”

Headteacher Melanie Mellor said 48 places had been booked for the Year 6 trip in advance before the term started in September last year. However 53 children later applied to go. This meant the school had to pick names out of hat - leaving five children unable to attend.

Mrs Smith said: “I paid the deposit and after a couple of weeks had passed, my son returned home one day broken-hearted.

“There had been according to the school an over subscription for the excursion, and a staff member had placed all the 53 children's names in a hat and drawn five names out.

“These children were then handed their deposit back and a slip of paper telling them that they were on a reserve list.”

The affected families were told in November their children would not be going on the trip, after paying for the outing in October.

Mrs Smith said she then had a meeting with the headteacher in the hope of sorting the issue.

She said: “I didn’t want these children's last memory of the school to be of deep disappointment but sadly it was to no avail.

“I also pointed out how heartless it seemed to tell the children that day and not at least to have had the decency to let parents know first in order that they could be there to offer a shoulder to the children involved.”

Ms Mellor said that other activities were being put on for the children this week at school including Bikeability and swimming.

She said: “We had a parents evening back in November where we made it perfectly clear that there was only a certain number of places and if it was oversubscribed then there would be a process to go through, which is a standard policy used in schools.

“It needs to be said that these residential trips would not be able to go ahead if it wasn’t for the commitment and dedication of the members of staff.”